Quitting work to take that leap of faith is no easy decision, but two young women have revealed the moment they decided to pack up the nine to five to follow their ultimate dream.

Chelsie Collins, 29, and Kristelle Levy, started their careers in very different paths - one worked as a cookery writer for the BBC, while Kristelle, 27, was head chef at a deli in Primrose Hill.

But they launched their own business on the side, selling luxury biscuits using a family recipe "for fun".

Today, their business - which started 'at mum's place' - is being stocked shelves at Selfridges and all without a single penny of third party investment.

"We began catering on the side of our full time jobs in February 2016," the duo told Mirror Money.

But in October, Chelsie and Kristelle - dubbed the 'Cookie Girls' - walked out their jobs to give Blondie's Kitchen their full attention.

"We wanted to see how well we worked together before committing long-term. We had fun instantly and realised our vision was the same - to love what we do and feed people. We wanted to give it 100%," they said.

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The Cookie Girls - with a twist

They have now sold over a million cookies from their permanent concession in Selfridges (Image: Blondie's Kitchen)

"In May 2016, we launched Blondies Kitchen but didn't imagine we’d be where we are now. Our cookies quickly started selling really well at private events and we became known as ‘the cookie girls’ in our community," Chelsie explained.

Kristelle had baked the original cookie recipe since she was a child - and knew they flew off the counter at her deli - but the secret to success would be the final touch.

"We decided we couldn't just do cookies. What could we pair it with? DUH, milk and cookies. Totally American. Totally nostalgic. Totally puts a smile on your face. Totally never goes out of fashion. Simple.

"We trialled the concept at Old Street station in October 2016 for two weeks. We baked 200 cookies for day 1, and prayed 50 would sell.

"We were baking out of Kristelle’s parents kitchen and bottling our own cereal milk. If it makes us smile, we put it on the menu. Day 1 at Old Street and we realised we made other people smile too. We sold out.

"For the next two weeks, we couldn't keep up with demand. We exceeded over 800 cookies a day, selling all day and baking all night. It was the most tiring but fulfilling experience of our lives. The concept worked and people enjoyed our products.

"From there, Taste of London approached us to be on their Dessert bar in Nov 2016 so we ended up at their opening night. Another success and we felt so lucky to be among huge restaurants and businesses having just started out."

But it wasn't until January 2017 that their idea became an empire in the making.

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"We screamed - was this really happening?'

"In January 2017, Selfridges approached us after seeing us on social media. We screamed. Genuinely. They asked us to launch a four week pop up in May 2017. It was surreal."

The girls started planning and preparing - renting a kitchen, finding equipment, stamping and stickering all of their packaging. It was a manual labour job - "we needed to keep costs down," Chelsie explained. "This meant baking and serving all day".

"We launched on May bank holiday and sold out by 2pm. The rest of the four weeks continued like this and we had to get Chelsie’s boyfriend, a chef, to step away from his kitchen and step into ours to manage production.

"In 2018 we popped up at Old Street station again to bring our cookies back to the East."

Last year they popped up at 1 Kingly Street in Soho with their first six month micro shop.

"In December 2018 we then launched another pop-up at Brent Cross shopping centre.

"This year we are launching events and widening our product range, including bake at home cookie dough, so more lovely cookie lovers can enjoy our products."

"Turnover is vanity and profit is sanity"

(Image: Blondie's Kitchen)

It's hard to believe that to date, the girls have had no investment in their business.

"We operate as tiny team where Chelsie manages the business, finances and front of house and Kristelle manages production and social media.

"It’s our passion and we’re so lucky to love what we do every day.

"We’ve been really lucky in that Selfridges found us originally, but we’ve worked seriously hard to keep our 364 day a year business operating. We bake fresh daily and our standards are uncompromised. A lot of hard work goes into this.

"We’re extremely hands on and both directors of the company.

"Our overheads are extremely high as you can imagine operating out of one of the best department stores in the world! We have our bakery in Park Royal which we rent to produce all our delicious cookies, our overhead of Selfridges, staff costs, machinery hire costs, and of course food costs.

"Our turnover for 2017/2018 was half a million pounds, but as my Dad always says, turnover is vanity and profit is sanity."

Despite making it in Selfridges, Blondie's Kitchen is still very much in its infancy.

"We don’t have an office space. Our bakery is our hub of creativity and I go to my parents’ house to work from when I have admin days," explains Chelsie.

"We hope to spread Blondies Kitchen nationwide, and perhaps internationally one day. Our plans are to develop products with a longer shelf life so more people can try them outside of London. We'd also love to start selling internationally."

Asked what advice they'd give to anyone else sitting on an idea - however big or small - Chelsie says you should embrace the obstacles.

"We always say to each other, you can’t buy the experience we’ve had, and it’s true. The learnings have been endless, and we learn something new every day. Obstacles come in all shapes and sizes, but we always find a solution.

"We’re positive people with a serious passion and energy which helps us get through our day to day. If we could have done anything differently we probably would have researched how difficult it is to produce a fresh baked product every single day.

"Ideas are one thing, but actioning that idea is another. Talk to other professionals in the field of work you’re endeavouring into and don’t be too proud to change and evolve.

"Your idea is still great but it may need adapting to make it a functioning business. We've always adapted and taken on board all the feedback we’re given. Learning never stops and that’s a positive thing."

Want to talk about your small business? Get in touch: emma.munbodh@mirror.co.uk.